# Is "Dead Fingers Talk" by William S. Burroughs a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of Dead Fingers Talk by William S. Burroughs (John Calder / Olympia Press, 1963) is identified by: London: John Calder in association with Olympia Press, 1963. True first is the 1963 John Calder in association with Olympia Press, London hardcover, a UK-only original never issued or translated outside the UK; it was out of print for nearly fifty years until the 2020 Restored edition, which first identified the previously unpublished material Calder had claimed.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- London: John Calder in association with Olympia Press, 1963
- First printing with no later printings stated on the copyright page
- Bound in grey cloth with the spine title in gilt
- The dust jacket and photographs are by Ian Sommerville; the original front is black-and-white (not the sepia-brown of later states), and the jacket should retain its printed price
- Composite text drawn from Naked Lunch, The Soft Machine, and The Ticket That Exploded, rearranged into a new narrative
- Publisher imprint reads John Calder / Olympia Press
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | William S. Burroughs |
| Publisher | John Calder / Olympia Press |
| Year | 1963 |
| True first | UK edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | London: John Calder in association with Olympia Press, 1963 |
| Book-club edition exists? | No |

## Points of issue
London: John Calder in association with Olympia Press, 1963. First printing with no later printings stated on the copyright page. Bound in grey cloth with the spine title in gilt. The dust jacket and photographs are by Ian Sommerville; the original front is black-and-white (not the sepia-brown of later states), and the jacket should retain its printed price. Composite text drawn from Naked Lunch, The Soft Machine, and The Ticket That Exploded, rearranged into a new narrative.

## Is this the true first?
True first is the 1963 John Calder in association with Olympia Press, London hardcover, a UK-only original never issued or translated outside the UK; it was out of print for nearly fifty years until the 2020 Restored edition, which first identified the previously unpublished material Calder had claimed.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
No book club.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *Dead Fingers Talk* by William S. Burroughs a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/dead-fingers-talk
CC BY 4.0. Part of the Canonical First-Edition Points of Issue dataset (https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/api/first-edition-titles.json). Last reviewed 2026-07-04.